Arts Plus. Rock.

Adam Ant Hits The '90s Stage With '80s Presence

May 05, 1995|By Kevin McKeough. Special to the Tribune.

The pirate costume and elaborate makeup were gone, but the high cheekbones and strong jaw were still in place. Adam Ant didn't need much more to reassert his standing as a teen idol for the music video age during a 90-minute performance that thrilled a capacity crowd at the Vic Theatre Wednesday evening.

The former Stuart Goddard emerged in the early '80s as one of the campiest figures of the dawning video era, decked out as a buccaneer, wearing ribbons in his braided hair, lipstick and war paint to boot.

"Wonderful," Ant's first record of new material in five years, is far more subdued than his early work. Any doubts that he could still make a dramatic impression, though, were quickly dispelled by his opening number.

Singing "Wonderful" crouched on a bar stool, his absurdly perfect features set off by swept-back dark hair, his leather jacket and pants glistening, Ant was the very picture of the romantic crooner.

It would be about the only time he held still all evening; he skipped, twisted, kicked, spun and jumped his way through nearly two dozen songs. For most of the evening, the catchy, glam-punk guitar riffs of songwriting partner/Uncle Fester-lookalike Marco Pirroni maintained an insistent groove, supported by Dave Ruffy and Dave Barbarossa's twin drumming.

Thanks to Ant's frisky, enthusiastic stage presence and the band's flash, it mattered little that the music was about as substantial as a Twinkie.

The energy sagged only during the new material, as "Beautiful Dream," "Gotta Be a Sin" and "Vampires" demonstrated Ant's limited skill at straightforward pop.

At his outlandish best on "Goody Two Shoes," "Beat My Guest" and "Vive La Rock," however, Ant proved there will always be a place in rock for goofy fun.